We mourn the passing of Brother Journeyman Inside Wireman James C. Elliott, who was 39 years old, and had been a Local 569 member for over 13 years.
Brother Elliott arrived at our Hall in January 2001, after having served a 3½ year apprenticeship in residential wiring through Local 400, in New Jersey. He also arrived with motor shop skills, as his classification was “SM Works” (Shop & Motor – perhaps?). Within 4 days, he was dispatched to Neal Electric, as an Intermediate Wireman (IW). Since IW work was plentiful at that time, James worked steadily for a year and a half.
When the IW program began to undergo changes, James put his shop and motor skills to work, and he was dispatched to Sloan Electric. He again was dispatched to Neal Electric, as an IW, and this time, he applied himself so well, that he studied for, and passed the JW exam in September 2004. When he was next dispatched to Neal Electric, it was as a full-fledged Journeyman Inside Wireman. For the next 14 years, he only needed to work for 3 different companies, to enjoy full employment: Neal Electric, Par Electric, and HMT. While at Par and HMT, successively, James performed his duties as a Foreman.
